Dasavatharam becomes the costliest Indian film

Kamal Haasan starrer Dasavatharam has overshot its Rs.1.3 billion budget and becomes the costliest Indian film to be ever made, said sources.

"Friday's much hyped trip of Jackie Chan to Chennai on a chartered flight had cost Rs.100 million to the producer and has added to the total cost that has now gone beyond Rs.1.4 billion, said sources close to producer "Oscar" Ravichandran."

The producer, however, is not said to be complaining.

"Since top stars from Bollywood, Amitabh Bachchan, Hema Malini and Mallika Sherawat were present, the worldwide publicity generated has contributed more to the movie's Hindi release than what we actually ended up spending," the source added.

Unfortunately, there was chaos at the film's audio launch function last week in Chennai. Dozens of people, including journalists, were injured when police cane-charged frenzied crowds at the star-studded event.

"Any news is good news. Despite spending all this money, there were no pictures of our shy producer Ravichandran. And there is no mention of his apologising to anyone anywhere," said a publicist associated with the film, referring to the mismanagement of the audio release function.

Namakkal girl is State topper

TWO years after she brought laurels to her weaving hamlet, getting the state first rank in SSLC examinations, R Dharani of Pallipalayam, Namakkal, has done it again.

Daughter of a weaver, Dharani has bagged the first rank in the Plus Two examinations, scoring 1,182 out of 1,200. The student of Vikas Girls Higher Secondary School, Thiruchengode, scored three centums — in chemistry, mathematics and biology — besides 199 in Physics, 193 in Tamil and 190 in English. Her father runs a powerloom unit in Pallipalayam. According to her chemistry teacher, Dharani used to be very attentive in the classroom and is a very hardworking student.

Dharani made it clear, “Bagging the first rank is no accident, but result of a conscious effort,” she said. Dharani, who is also interested in chess, wants to become a doctor, but hasn’t decided the specialisation.

The latest on ‘Dasavatharam’

Film buffs may not know how many of the 10 avatars in ‘Dasavatharam’ actor Kamal Haasan is done with, but titbits about the film have been doing the rounds among his fans’ circle.

An official press release issued by the crew recently said two songs remained to be shot and that the audio launch would be held this month. The songs will be shot in Chennai at sets art director Thotta Tharani has been constructing at a cost of Rs. 3 crore. Himesh Reshammiya has scored the music for the film.

Kamal Hassan is said to have given 10 different variations to his voice while dubbing for the characters he plays and heroine actor Asin has also dubbed for her role for the first time. The film, earlier perceived as a possible comedy, is said to have become a completely performance-oriented script. With veteran actor Nagesh, who has performed with Kamal in many of his comedies, including ‘Avvai Shanmugi’ and ‘Panchathantiram’, playing a role in the film, the audience may be surprised by an interesting comedy track.

Actors Napolean, Mallika Sherawat, Jayapradha and Rekha, and directors P. Vasu and Ramesh Khanna are among the other actors.

Kamal Hassan has paid attention to the action sequences that have been choreographed by U.S.-based Joop Katana and Andy Dixon, apart from Kanal Kannan and others. The crew began shooting the film in Chennai, and then went to Malaysia, United States and came back to Pichavaram. Eager fans are said to have spotted the crew at different parts of the city, including the Chintadripet MRTS railway station and Nehru Indoor Stadium.

With all this buzz on the one side, what does Kamal have to say? “The fact that the Chief Minister enjoyed the pictures with enthusiasm and pinched my cheek with affection is equivalent to celebrating the success of ‘Dasavatharam’ with a huge function,” he has said in the press release.

Dasavatharam - Costliest Movie ever made in India

Kamal Haasan starrer “Dasavatharam” has overshot its Rs.1.3 billion budget and becomes the costliest Indian film to be ever made, said sources. “Friday’s much hyped trip of Jackie Chan to Chennai on a chartered flight had cost Rs.100 million to the producer and has added to the total cost that has now gone beyond Rs.1.4 billion, said sources close to producer “Oscar” Ravichandran.

The producer, however, is not said to be complaining.

“Since top stars from Bollywood, Amitabh Bachchan, Hema Malini and Mallika Sherawat were present, the worldwide publicity generated has contributed more to the movie’s Hindi release than what we actually ended up spending,” the source added.

Unfortunately, there was chaos at the film’s audio launch function last week in Chennai. Dozens of people, including journalists, were injured when police cane-charged frenzied crowds at the star-studded event.

“Any news is good news. Despite spending all this money, there were no pictures of our shy producer Ravichandran. And there is no mention of his apologising to anyone anywhere,” said a publicist associated with the film, referring to the mismanagement of the audio release function.

There's no stopping Kamal!

Kamal Haasan has indeed come a long way.

The actor who made his acting debut when he was just six years old has acted in over two hundred Indian films in various languages including Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and even a silent film.

Kamal's first film was the 1960 film Kalathur Kannamma, which was directed by Bhim Singh. He played Gemini Ganesan and Savithri's son who later grows up in an orphanage. The role fetched him a National award for best child actor, the first of his four national awards.

Now, 48 years and innumerable awards later, the talented actor is taking on ten roles in his Tamil film Dasavatharam, which incidently was written by him and directed by K S Ravikumar.

In the picture: Kamal in a still from Dasavatharam and an inset of him from Kalathur Kannamma.

Dasavatharam on May 23?

'Oscar' Ravichandran is hopeful of releasing his magnum opus Dasavatharam on May 23 worldwide, if the last of the work of "30 seconds of Tsunami effect" is complete.

Trailer of the film has been dispatched to all the theatres where the film has been booked for release. In case the work is delayed, the film will be postponed to June 6.

Said an excited Oscar Ravichandran to sify.com:"It is a mega budget Rs 60 crore film and took time to complete. The special effects and graphics are mind-blowing on par with Hollywood films. Please note this is not film that can be wrapped up in 50 days with two songs shot in Pollachi and then trying to keep to a deadline. The kind of grandeur and richness that you see in Dasavatharam is going to be talked about in the coming days."

Ravichandran says he is going to market the film himself throughout Tamilnadu. He has booked nearly 400 screens in the state, where he is upgrading the sound and picture quality at his expense.

The idea is to give the viewer “the feel and touch of Dasavatharam, and make it an enjoyable outing for the entire family”.

Surya's Vaaranam Aayiram

If one had a close look at two of the biggest hits of Gautham Menon – Kaaka Kaaka and Vettaiyadu Vilayadu, apart from both being cop stories and backed by power performance of the cast, there was another line of similarity - the lead ladies of both the movies, be it Jyothika of Kaaka Kaaka or Kamlini Mukherjee of Vettaiyadu Vilayadu, get

killed. Even Jyothika in Vettaiyadu Vilayadu was shown to be killed in the initial days of release of the movie only to be changed later and in DVD version.

If a birdie from Kollywood is to be believed, even in the director’s upcoming Vaaranam Aayiram, the heroine (Sameera Reddy) is killed due to unfortunate circumstances of events. This is when the twist in the story creeps up with the arrival of Ramya into the scene. Seems like the director believes that the death of his heroines could bring his movies some luck as well as a huge empathetic fan-following for the Hero as well. read full story

Aishwarya Rai on Rajini

Aishwarya Rai has expressed her comments on acting with Rajini in'Robot.' At a private function, Aishwarya has agreed to pair with Rajini in 'Robot.' Every time attempts have been made to cast Aishwarya opposite Rajini.

She was approached to star in 'Chandramukhi' and 'Sivaji' too but she turned down the offers because she had no free call sheet.

Mentioning this in her speech, she said, "I have been offered roles to pair with Rajini many times, but only now, it is coming true."

Rajini may have got his heroine for 'Robot' but is yet to find one for 'Kuchelan' that is to start earlier. Ileana turned down the offer as she was 'busy,' so Nayantara has been approached for her call sheet.

Bheema Review

Bheema hit the screen after having been lying in the cans for a long long time. Vikram, who had no films in 2007, should thank his stars. Lingusamy, who directed the film, his first with Vikram, is known for making family stories. "Bheema" is a mix of action, romance, thrill and sentiment, but fails to impress. The shoddy screenplay and jerky narration are more to blame than the lack of ingenuity on the part of the director. As Vikram's stake is greater than the others, he carries the entire film on his shoulders. He comes out with his by now familiar knock-out performance. Trisha plays her role with grit making the most of her experience of working with Vikram in "Saamy". Lingusamy had roped in the entire "Ghajini team", including cinematographer R.D Rajasekhar, art director Rajeevan and editor Antony. However, they could not do much to lift the film up. The end product is no different from the routinely churned out gangster movies. The one-and-a-half year anxious wait only helped publicize the title "Bheema" the character Vikram played.

Here goes the story...
There are two rival gangs, one headed by Chinna (Prakash Raj) and the other by dreaded don Periyavar (Raghuvaran). Shekhar (Vikram), son of an honest and dedicated policeman, grows up in Rameswaram. From childhood he is drawn towards Chinna more for his benevolent nature than his dark side. Shekhar's admiration for Chinna develops into adoration. For him, Chinna is a role model. He eventually joins the ranks of the gangster and rises to become his trusted lieutenant. A turf war breaks out between Chinna and Periyavar. Fighting on the side of Chinna, 'all muscle' Shekhar humbles Periyavar and his sons and helps Chinna establish his supremacy. However, the rivalry between the two gangs intensifies in a bid to eliminate each other. Terror is let loose. Then enters a new police commissioner (Ashish Vidyarthi). He forms a special team to liquidate the two gangs in encounters. Meanwhile, Shekhar falls in love with Charu (Trisha). This further complicates matters. With the special team in hot pursuit of the gangs, the situation hots up leading to shoot-outs and the resultant mayhem. read full story

Kalam gets science museum in his honour

As President APJ Abdul Kalam prepares to demit office, his scientist friends have come together to start a museum that showcases his contribution to India’s space development — and also has a silhouette of his famous mane as its logo.

The Mission of Life Museum in the capital’s cantonment area is the brainchild of Kalam’s friend and Managing Director of BrahMos Aerospace Pvt Ltd, A Sivathanu Pillai.

Through Kalam’s achievements, the museum also highlights the country’s milestones in rocketry, space and missile technology using 3-D holography and even a simulated nuclear explosion.

As Pillai sees it, there could be no better tribute for India’s first scientist president, who was the founder of BrahMos, an India-Russia joint venture for making the supersonic cruise missiles.

“We have reached a stage when the BrahMos missiles have been inducted into the Indian Navy and the Army, so we decided to exhibit the important milestones in our space, nuclear and missile technology (which are closely linked to Kalam),” Pillai said. “It is designed in such a way that the children, who come out of it after visiting it, should have a vision about their life.”

The timing is right too. The museum opens on July 15 exclusively for schoolchildren during weekends, just four days before the new president is elected.

“It has come out as a fantastic museum,” Pillai, who has collected all the medals, honours, certificates and awards Kalam had received, said.

The museum was inaugurated by Kalam himself last month. He has donated his original Bharat Ratna, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan awards, his 27 doctorates apart from numerous other awards to it. Several dozen mementos and gifts Kalam received during his presidency and earlier are also featured. Besides, the president’s personal ‘Rudraveena’ and Mahatma Gandhi’s marksheet, which was gifted to him by the father of nation’s old school in Gujarat, are there too.

Tamil Nadu gets dual-boot Win-Linux desktops

The Indian state of Tamil Nadu has finalized a tender for 40,000 Lenovo desktops which can be installed with both Novell's Suse Linux and Microsoft's Windows XP Starter Edition.

According to C. Umashankar, managing director of Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu (Elcot), the desktops will be deployed across schools and government departments in the state. Elcot is Tamil Nadu's state-owned IT supplier.

Umashankar said the desktops will be installed with either Suse Linux or dual-boot Windows XP Starter Edition/Suse Linux configurations, depending on the needs of the organization.

For instance, schools will be provided with Suse Linux desktops, while government employees who still require Windows in their work will get dual-boot machines, he told ZDNet Asia.

Dual-boot machines will cost 22,000 rupees (US$497) each, though this was not the initial price point quoted by the vendors, Umakshankar said, adding that Chennai-based IT company Origin Infosys will supply the Lenovo desktops.

He said that Elcot was originally quoted 21,800 rupees (US$492) for each Lenovo system, whether the preloaded OS was Suse Linux or Windows XP Starter Edition. After some negotiation, Elcot secured the final price of 22,000 rupees (US$497) for dual-boot systems, Umashankar said.

Suse Linux is a full-fledged OS with no restrictions on how the platform is used, while Microsoft's Windows XP Starter Edition does not allow users to run more than three software applications at one time.

According to Umashankar, users will be "encouraged" to use Suse Linux as far as possible.

Earlier this year, Tamil Nadu announced plans for all government agencies across the state to switch from Microsoft Windows desktop to Linux and the OpenOffice productivity suite. The move is expected to slash the local government's IT cost by 15 to 25 percent.